This Haryana district is barely 97 kms from Delhi and abuts the NCR town of Gurugram, also known as Millennium City for its glitz and development.

Scores of youngsters have been demanding a university in the region, which is purportedly backward

Mewat, Haryana: Scores of youngsters in Mewat have been demanding a university in the region, which is purportedly backward in the state of Haryana. There have been several groups and activists who, from time to time, have been crying foul for the lack of a university in Mewat. This Haryana district is barely 97 kms from Delhi and abuts the NCR town of Gurugram, also known as Millennium City for its glitz and development.

The activists find it distressing and outrageous that they have been fighting for something that should ideally come naturally to a district with a population of 10.89 lakh in 550 villages. The overall literacy rate in Mewat is a mere 56% (against the country's average of 74% as per the 2011 data). The situation seems grimmer when one notices that the nearest city Gurugram has an array of universities such as Amity University (Manesar campus), The Northcap University, Ansal University, KR Mangalam University and GD Goenka University, among others.

Recently, a campaign was kicked off in Bicchor village of Mewat to mobilise the people and exert the public pressure for setting up a university.

The campaign kickstarted under the banner of a youth group called Humara Adhikar Morcha (HUM). The group is led by a local journalist Yunus Alwi, convener of Hum.

"Mewat is quite backward and we believe that setting up of a university will be a step in the direction of turning around the area's development," said Yunus Alwi.

Another member and HUM's general secretary Mohammad Arif said, "The struggle for a university in Mewat is not new, however, it is now gaining traction. We have reignited the campaign with a lot of vigour and would not rest until our demand, which is quite noble in spirit and intent, is met."

Arif claimed that one of HUM's leaders spoke to a Union minister in the NDA government who reportedly said that when the next batch of universities open in India, the government will make sure to open one in Mewat also.

"We now run a WhatsApp group that has nearly 100 members and we are now mobilizing the citizens from across villages. We tell people about the poor state of education to everyone around us," said Arif.

He said that the border area of Mewat are relatively more backward and include Seesan, Ghatmika, Padi, Tikiri, Gopalgarh, Kamha, and Jurera.

It is noteworthy that even Mewat's district headquaters Nuh doesn't have a college for men. "There is only one women's college in Nuh and one co-ed in Nagina block of Mewat. We don't have a regional centre of Maharishi Dayanand University (MDU) here," Arif points out in despair.